Congrats! Mayu is sure cute....but I just had a brain blackout....In Japan, when a lady marries, do the names follow western tradition? ie the lady takes the man's last name and the children also?

Yes they do, sometimes the man can take the woman's name and be apart of her family. Actually I think in Japan it would be pretty impossible for the mother and children NOT to share a family name unless the parents aren't married and custody was given to the father.

In Japan, marriage law requires married couples to share a surname. Most of the times the wife takes the husband's name and joins their household (koseki). But, there are cases when the husband takes the wife's surname as he is sort-of "adopted" by the wife's family. http://www.economist.com/news/asia/2...ping-it-family So, legally, Mayu is most likely "Oda Mayu."

In Chinese circles, wives usually don't change their surnames but are often addressed by their husband's surname. The children often take the father's surname, unless, of course, the marriage was to continue the matrilineal line.

This was such unexpected news, but I'm happy for their family on their new addition! (I wonder if this was the reason for his poor outing at Japan Super Challenge earlier in the week. ) Shintaro just turned 2 in October and now he's a big brother, how exciting!

Was Oda the Japanese skater who had to sit out a year due to a drunk driving charge on a bike? Then he got his girlfriend pregant and it is amazing how he came back to be so competitive. How he supports his family I am not sure. skating is expensive and there is a good chance he won't go to world's with all the great Japanese male skaters.

Was Oda the Japanese skater who had to sit out a year due to a drunk driving charge on a bike? Then he got his girlfriend pregant and it is amazing how he came back to be so competitive. How he supports his family I am not sure. skating is expensive and there is a good chance he won't go to world's with all the great Japanese male skaters.

He was indeed suspended following a drunk driving charge, I think it was the 2007-8 season. As for his wife, I believe that they had known each other for years before becoming parents, though I don't know if they had planned to have a kid at that time.

Oda is by no means the first skater to have children during his skating career: so did Mark Ladwig, Michael Weiss, Alexander Abt, Samuel Contesti and Tatiana Navka, to name some examples. I'm sure Oda and his wife have found ways to manage.

In Japan, marriage law requires married couples to share a surname. Most of the times the wife takes the husband's name and joins their household (koseki).

No, the law doesn't require married couples to share a surname. The law requires that the family register (koseki) must be under the same surname. But any family member can start a separate koseki from other family members if he/she wishes to have a different surname. This rule is often used by foreign fathers who want their kid to have a foreign daddy's surname and not a Japanese mother's surname in case she didn't take her hubby's last name. This procedure requires the mother's agreement though and actually can be done only by her since she is the one who is a J-nationality, i.e. the subject of relevant jurisdiction. I mean a foreign father can't do anything by himself without the mommy's cooperation.

And thanks for all the interesting information on surnames throughout Asia. By the way, I've always felt that Japanese names, both first names and surnames, have such a beautiful, poetic sound: Nobunari, Mayu, Shintaro...somehow my ear really responds to them. It's fascinating that a relatively small population with really only one linguistic influence has such a wonderful variety of names. I'd love to learn more.